Kerry said Washington currently had an “enormous amount on the plate,” highlighting negotiations with Russia over Ukraine, talks with Iran on its nuclear program and the Syrian conflict, as other US priorities.

“Both parties say they want to continue, neither party has said they want to call it off; but we’re not going to sit there indefinitely, this is not an open-ended effort,” he said.

US Department of State deputy spokesperson Marie Harf attempted to take the sting out of Kerry’s remarks, insisting there was still a peace process to which the US remained “committed.”

“We’re still negotiating,” Harf said.

“Until we get to the end of this process, we should all be cautious about making predictions about what will come next,” she added.

Israel says Tuesday’s move by Abbas is a clear breach promises made by the Palestinians when peace talks were relaunched in July to pursue no other avenues for recognition of their promised state.

The Palestinians say Israel had already reneged on its own commitments by failing to release a fourth and final batch of Arab prisoners on the weekend, and that the treaty move was their response.

Kerry spoke to both Netanyahu and Abbas from North Africa to appeal to them to reconsider.

However, Abbas dismissed his warnings about the consequences of pressing ahead with the treaty applications, a Palestinian official said on condition of anonymity.

Kerry warned that “Israel was threatening a strong response to Palestinian actions,” the official said.

However, Abbas retorted: “Israel’s threats scare no one. They can do what they like,” the official added.

Both sides insisted they remain ready to talk, and US envoy Martin Indyk met Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat in Jericho on Friday.

However, as the steps and counter steps multiplied, the talks looked close to collapse, even before their scheduled end on April 29.

Netanyahu was looking into a range of tough options to punish the Palestinians, Haaretz newspaper reported, including withholding tax revenues levied by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.

The Israeli Ministry of the Interior gave the green light for a controversial visitor center in an Arab neighborhood of annexed east Jerusalem.

Israeli Minister of Justice Tzipi Livni, Israel’s chief peace negotiator, told the Palestinians there had been a chance of a belated release of the final batch of prisoners.

However, she said this had been scuppered by the treaty move, a source close to the talks said.

About 1,500 Palestinians demonstrated on Friday outside Ofer military prison near Ramallah, rallied by the families of those who were to have been freed on March 29.

Eight protesters were wounded by gunfire from Israeli troops, medics said, two in serious condition.